


Let The Sleeping Dead Lie

by Theatrix_the_goddess



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-02-20 16:53:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13150920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theatrix_the_goddess/pseuds/Theatrix_the_goddess
Summary: Sometimes it's best to let the dead stay dead.When Sam and tucker loose their best friend, they find themselves uncertain on how to react. Tucker just wants to shut everything out, but Sam is determined to do anything to get Danny back, even if she loses herself in the process.





	1. A less important character

Wes didn't like ghosts, but that didn't mean he would deny their existence. Wes was very aware that ghosts were real. Amity Park was very much haunted, and any kid that lived there could confirm. If you went to Casper High in the night, you would be able to see the ghosts of those who died in the school shooting back in the 50s. They won't talk to you, but if they see you, they will giggle and whisper as if they were mocking you.

The children of Amity Park did not feel fear the way kids of other towns did. Breaking into a high school at night for the chance to see the ghosts was a popular thing to do. Of course, very few truly believed the ghosts, but Wes did. 

Wes could see the ghosts during the day. Wes knew before anyone else that the social worker wasn't what she claimed to be, but no one believed him. When she suddenly disappeared leaving a note saying she quit, he knew she was escaping the wrath of the most powerful ghost in school. 

Wes didn't like the mayor. Most sixteen year olds didn't even know who their mayor's name. But Wes was someone who liked to be informed. He saw how suddenly Vlad Masters was elected, despite moving to the town only months before. 

Casper High has a relatively low population. Amity Park used to be a much larger town, but when the housing market crashed, over half the homes in the surrounding suburbs became vacant. Casper High in particular has large building meant to house a large population of students, but most of the rooms were unused do to lack of students and teachers. Amity was a cheap place to live, and their streak of a near non existent crime rate of over twenty five years was still going strong. One would think it was an ideal place to live.  
But Amity was still haunted by the massive amounts of bloodshed that had previously stained the streets. Countless gang wars in the 70s, the numerous serial killers that had made their mark on the town, and the famous school shooting in the 50s.

Most people wouldn't think to move to Amity Park, the town being in the middle nowhere, surrounded by forests and prairie that you have to drive through to visit other towns. So that was one reason people didn't come, the other was because of the ghosts. But we already know that.

Most kids at Casper High remember when Danny Fenton died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wes isn't as important to the story than the first chapter would lead you to believe. 
> 
> edit: i'm keeping this first chapter, but a edited a little bit of it.


	2. The book

Freakshow, the ringleader of Circus Gothica was the coolest person Sam had ever met. The show had come to town that week, and Sam had gone to every show. On the final night, at the end of the last show, Sam did something impulsive, she went backstage of the circus.   
  
Slipping through the rows of crates filled with props and supplies for the circus, she drank in the site, crates full of skulls to ones filled with black spiked outfits, Sam was surrounded by sites she found just as wonderful as the one from the rows of seats. She peaked out around a corner to see the ringleader sorting the money earned by the show.   
  
Someone pulled Sam's shoulder, pushing her out into the open in front of the ringleader.   
  
"Found this kid spying on you, boss." One of the performers had a heavy hand on Sam's shoulder, keeping her from running away, not that Sam had any plan to do that.   
  
Freakshow stood up, leaning over Sam, and smiled.   
  
"Hello little one, not done with the show, I see." He waved away the burly performer "leave us, this girl has done no harm."   
  
The other man released Sam and walked away, rolling his eyes and muttering about how he doesn't get paid enough. Sam looked up at Freakshow, not sure what to expect.   
  
Freakshow smiled. "Now child, you seem like someone who knows dark magic when she sees it. Did you enjoy my show? I saw you come every evening this week."   
  
Sam nodded, smiling. "I love this type of stuff, and your show was amazing!"   
  
"Wonderful! We could use more passionate youth such as yourself. I can see you are a sneaky one, slipping back here, I admire that."   
  
"Huh?" Sam was confused.   
  
"You have spunk kid, you plan on keeping up this rebellious phase?"   
  
"It's not a phase!" Sam snapped instinctively, regretting it as soon as the words left her mouth. This wasn't her parents she was talking too! Stupid! She looked down, ashamed.  
  
Freakshow leaned back and laughed, as if she had told him the funniest joke in the world.   
  
"Give me a second, little one." He said once his laughter died, still smiling an amused smile. He turned around and walked up to a trunk full of books. He pulled a few out to get to one below it. The book was large and old, in good condition as well. He walked back to Sam, holding out the book for her to see.   
  
"This book is very powerful, and has taught me many important lessons. I want you to have it"  
  
Sam took the book from him, holding it out in front of her, staring at the cover in disbelief.   
  
"You are really giving this to me?" She asked.   
  
"Of course child," said freakshow "I have already read that book so many times I have every page memorized, someone such as yourself could benafit from it much more than I could these days"   
  
He patted Sam's shoulder softly, and began to lead her out of the tent.   
  
"You have a lot of potential my child, use it wisely" 

Sam didn't go home after that, excited to show someone the book she called up Danny and Tucker and they desided to meet in the park. Sam found a spot the jungle gym and waited for the boys.   
  
Danny showed up first, running when he saw Sam. Breathing heavily he stopped in found of her. He grinned a beautiful grin, full of excitement. "Is that the book?" He asked, pointing at the large hardcover in her lap.   
  
"Duh," said Sam, holding out for him to take. "Isn't it the coolest?"   
  
Danny took to book from her, turning it around so he held the it the right way. He stared at the title, reading the cursive writing with slight difficulty. "Life in death" he said quietly, clearly impressed by the pure aesthetic the large purple cover gave off.   
  
"Can I look through it?" He asked.   
  
"Of course, I'm too scared to open it myself. I can't believe he gave it to me, he said it was a book on the supernatural"   
  
Danny hummed approvingly, gently opening the cover, then turning the first page. The paper sliced through his finger, giving him a paper cut. Danny hissed in pain, immediately bringing his finger to his lips to suck on the cut.   
  
Sam took the book from him, looking at the first page, the corner of it had a tiny blood stain on the very edge that cut Danny. Sam frowned, but held back any complaints. Fanny didn't mean to damage the book, and it was only a tiny mark of the edge of the first page. Sam flipped through a few more pages, settling on a random one. It was a spell for summoning ghosts.   
  
Danny leaned over Sam's shoulder, looking at the book that had inured him. He skanned the text next to the diagrams.  "You planning to sumoning a dead relative or something?" He asked wile his finger was still in his mouth.  
  
"I'm not planning on anything yet, I just got the book, I need to read more." Sam replied, her own finger tracing the circles drawn on the page.   
  
"HEY GUYS!" Danny and Sam turned around to see Tucker running up to them. Danny grinned and went over to greet Tucker. Sam smiled a little sadly, sometimes she felt like a third wheel with those two. She knew that Tucker most likely felt that way with her and Danny. The two boys had their arms around each other's shoulders, Danny chatting happily about what a cool book Sam was showing him.    
  
 Walking up to Sam, Tucker's eyes were drawn to the large purple hardcover within Sam's arms. Sam handed it over to him to see. Tucker took it from her, opening it to flip through.  
  
Tucker flipped through the pages quickly, skanning a page now and then. "So this is one of your goth things?" He asked    
  
"I told you over the phone, the ringleader of Circus Gothica himself gave this to me, so be gentle with it." Sam snapped.   
  
"Yeah Tucker," joked Danny, "be careful, I cut my finger on the thin pages, don't want the same for you."   
  
"I'll be fiiiiiine" Tucker landed on a page on mummies, grinning as he looked over the diagrams on the different ways to preserve a body. He handed the open book over to Sam. "I like the bog mummy"   
  
Sam found the diagram for bog mummies interesting as well. "Is that what you want us to do with you when you bite the dust?" She asked him playfully.   
  
Tucker laughed loudly.   
  
The hour after that was full of bog mummy jokes, climbing on the jungle gym, and lying on the grass worn out from running around. As the night went on it became colder, thus the trio went their separate ways to return to their homes. Sam snuck into her house without her parents noticing. Tucker's mom was still up, but it wasn't a school night so she let him go with a warning to not to stay out so late next time.   
  
Danny didn't make it home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter, woot! Getting into plot stuff. During the event of this chapter, Sam Tucker and Danny are all 14. 
> 
> I feel like my writing is a little rushed? Tell me what you think.


	3. Dead boys and temper tantrums

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not easy to let go...

Sam was never one could let things go easily. 

She clutched the purple book close to her chest, staring straight ahead into nothing. These days it felt like the book was the only thing keeping her together. Loosing herself within the tiny text she could reread the same chapter for hours. Maybe if she memorized the section on bog mummies perfectly Danny would come back. At this point she was willing to try anything. 

Anything to forget what she just told, to enter a world where there was still hope Danny was out there, anything. 

Danny's mom had come over to tell her what they found out, that they found Danny's body after three weeks of nothing, after three weeks of not knowing where he was or what happened to him. Now they knew he was dead. Now they were going to bury him. 

No. 

Sam felt tears well up in her eyes. She hadn't cried once since she first noticed Danny was gone. Perhaps it was the hope of his return that had kept her together, but that was gone now. Sam felt her chest tighten sharply, she gasped dryly, her breathing was shaky and rough. 

Sam cried. 

~~~

The funeral was short. The day was bleak and cold. Danny's mother did a speach, as did his sister. Tucker refused to say anything, clearly doing everything he could not to cry, and Sam only stared at the funeral guests silently from her place at the stand for a minute, then walk back to her seat silently. The adults understood, they had lost their best friend. 

When they lowered danny's casket into the ground, burying it, Sam finally broke into tears, punching a tree next to her hard, bruising her hand badly. She leaned against the tree for a few seconds, breathing heavily, then punched it three more times, her knuckles now bleeding.

Tucker was shaking. He didn't know what to do. He felt sick and dizzy. Danny was officially gone. His body lowered into the ground and buried. He look at Sam, who sobbing against a tree, knuckles bleeding from punching the bark. Danny's mom was also looking at Sam, clearly concerned but didn't know how to help her.  Danny various aunts and uncles and other relatives stood around in groups, talking softly about what a good boy Danny had been. 

Tucker felt the urge to scream. 

"Hey Tucker." A hand placed itself on Tucker's shoulder. It was Jazz. "How are you holding up?" 

"Fine." Tucker snapped. He pushed Jazz's hand off his shoulder.  His face flushed, looking away "sorry" 

"It's ok," said Jazz "he was your best friend, you have every right to be upset and emotionally unstable" 

Tucker sighed, Jazz was bottling everything up, she was probably feelung worse than he was. 

"He was your brother, are... are you going to be ok?" Tucker asked 

Jazz smiled sadly.

"I'll be alright, Danny wouldn't want to break down. I'll keep going, it's what he would have wanted." Jazz wiped away a tear, a hiccup choked her words. 

A scream ripped through the brisk air, Jazz and Tucker turned towards it. Sam was stomping the ground, kicking up grass, sobbing. 

"Danny you idiot! You're dead! You're fucking dead! What where you thinking!?!" 

"Sam isn't taking it well." Jazz said softly. 

Tucker felt tears fall silently down his cheeks. He wanted to freak out like Sam was, but freaking out was Sam's thing Tucker didn't throw temper tantrums like Sam did, Tucker would pull stupid stunts as much as Sam did, but when he pulls a stunt it's calculated, and usually in response to one of Sam's stunts. Then Danny would swoop in and make things better. 

Tucker didn't feel like reacting to Sam's freak out this time. 

~~~

Tucker traded his usual yellow sweater for a black t shirt and grey/orange zip up jacket he found at the back of his closet, the once too large jacket now fit nicely. Tucker felt had to do something to feel in control of his life again, and the jacket did help, a little bit. 

Sam got her hair cut, her bangs now more even and neat. Her purple tights had gotten ripped, so she traded them for green, as well as wearing green lipstick after her purple stick had run out. 

Tucker wanted Danny back, he wanted Danny to just come through the door grinning his beautiful grin and make everything ok again. 

It was raining that day, so Sam and Tucker spent their free period in the library. Sam flipped through her book. Tucker knew Sam wanted Danny back too, but she was on a different level of desperate. 

Sam tilted the book towards Tucker so he could see it better. On the page was a diagram for a ritual that apparently could summon the souls of the dead. 

"We can do it, we can bring him back." Sam said quietly, almost wisspering. Tucker's brows knit together in concern. 

"Sam, I don't even think this stuff is for real, do you really think I'm going to help you bring Danny back to life?" 

"Not back to life ideot, bring back his soul. His body is no longer fit to hold his spirit, but we can bring him back without his body, we can bring him back as a ghost." 

Tucker slumped down in his seat. He didn't like how Sam was talking. The two of them were always closer to Danny then eachother, with him gone they had become closer, but Tucker sometimes wished he could cut Sam out of his life for good. Tucker wished he could cut everyone out of his life, be completely alone for good.  

"What do we have to loose? If you're right and it doesn't work then nothing happens, if I'm right than we get Danny back. You do want Danny back, right?" Asked Sam.

Tucker's face twisted into a glare. He didn't like how she was guilt tripping him. Of course he wanted Danny back! How could she ask something like that? But he wasn't just about to do some stupid cult shit. 

"Come to grave yard tonight, I'm doing this with or without you. Be there by nine or don't come at all." Sam snapped the book shut, putting it in her bag and getting up from the table. She pushed in her chair and proceeded to exist the library. 

Tucker put his head down on the table.  

Paulina walked up to the table, looking at Tucker expectantly. Tucker raised his head just to glare. "What?" He snapped. 

"Me and Sam are supposed to be working on a project together. Where did she go?" 

Tucker pointed at the library doors, still glaring. Paulina smiled a nasty smile and skipped out of the library. 

Maybe he will meet Sam at the graveyard tonight, just to keep her from doing something stupid. 

More stupid than usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a lot out of me. But I'm getting a lot done, I hope you like it (^.^)


	4. return of lost love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> desperation is one hell of a drug, something that can push people to do things they never previously would have done.

Sam placed the book face open on Danny’s grave.

For the last few weeks, she’d heard the book whispering to her, guiding her. It taught her how to hear the words of the grass and trees. But her most recent lesson had been the most important; the book had taught how to contact the afterlife.

She used a stick to dig a circle in the dirt around the book, filling it with the rock salt she’d taken from the garage. She placed four candles around the circle, grasping the fifth within her hand.

She decided to wait a few minutes to see if Tucker would show up. He did.

Tucker hopped off his bike when he reached the graveyard gates. He locked his bike to fence, not wanting it to be stolen. Slipping through the opening in between the gates, he made his way to Danny's grave.

He shot a glance at the display Sam had set up. A spike of irritation went through him.

"You really are going through with this, are you?"

"Of course Tucker, I'm not one to do things halfway," snipped Sam.

Tucker didn't know why her sharp words made him flinch.he flinched at her words.

Sam pulled out piece of crumpled folded paper from her pocket and unfolded it.It was a drawing, one from Danny's sketchbook. The drawing was a plain unshaded pencil sketch of one of Danny's characters, flying up into the air.

Danny had loved superheroes growing up. When the three of them were kids they would draw themselves as characters, creating heroes and monsters for their own little world. Tucker drew himself as a pharaoh, Sam drew herself as a plant monster, and Danny drew himself as a superhero.

He’d called himself Danny Payback. He had his own logo and costume. As Payback, Danny could manipulate icehad ice powers, could fly, and was incredibly strong. As they grew up, they’d put their secret identities behind, but Danny always had a lingering connection to Payback, doodling the logo on his notebooks absentmindedly.

The three of them each had a bit of skill when it came to art. None of them were even close to professional level artists, but it was a hobby they shared.

Sam held the drawing over the book and hummed. The paper turned into dirt.

Tucker’s eyes widened, gasping sharply, shocked at what he saw. he didn’t understand what Sam was doing, what she had gotten into.

"Sam, what are you doing?"

"I told you, Tucker, I'm bring Danny back, and I _will_ succeed."   
  
Sam put her hands together above the dirt, then pulled them apart, more dirt falling through her fingers and onto the pages. Sam mixed the dirt around with her fingers, then sat back, kneeling. She began to whisper quietly, chanting in a language neither of them knew. She brought her thumb up to her lips then bit hard, blood welling up around the broken skin.

Tucker sucked air through his teeth sharply, cringing at the thought of how much it must have hurt. Sam didn't seem to notice any pain she would reasonably be feeling.

Sam licked the blood on her lips, them raised her thumb over the dirt. The blood dripped twice on to the dirt before Sam stuck her thumb back into her mouth,sucking on the cut.

From the dirt sprouted a tiny leaf. Tucker's eyes went wide, but Sam didn't seem to react. The leaf then grew into a plant before their eyes, then from the plant grew a tiny red blossom. The petals were an unnatural red, one that reminded Tucker of blood. A coppery sent filled the air.

Sam smiled.

Suddenly, Sam bent over unnaturally, her hands clutching her throat. Sam's body shook as a dry hacking cough wracked through her, over and over again. Tucker found himself frozen, unable to do anything but stare in horror as Sam continued to cough violently, spitting up bright red petals. Blood dripped from her lips as petals continued to fall from her mouth. Sam had fallen on hands and knees, bent over in pain.

Then the petals stopped coming. Sam calm, spitting out the last few petals and returned to kneeling.

Tucker was frozen, unable to say or do anything. What Sam was doing, it was real. Sam was determined to get Danny back, but what if she lost herself in the process? Was that a price she was willing to pay?

yes.

Sam wiped the blood from her lips. The wind began to pick up, blowing the petals from their pile on the book as they began to circle around Sam. The flower that had grown from the book caught fire. The temperature dropped. The smoke from the fire and the candles became thicker and thicker as the graveyard grew darker. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Then, as if it had a mind of its own, the sickly yellow-green smoke began to take shape. The smoke was a sickly yellow-green. The smoke bagan to take shape. It was _Danny_ , hovering above the burning blossom, his eyes closed, face expressionless.

Then Danny opened his eyes, eyes that were now pure white and glowing. The inky blackness of Danny's hair seemed to bleed away till it was white. Danny closed his eyes again for just a second, then when they opened they were an acid green. As his body became more solid, Sam and Tucker could see that he wore a hazmat suit with the very same symbol Danny always doodled on his tests and notebooks, now an emblem on his chest.

Sam smiled. "Danny?" She breathed, voice soft and wispy.

Danny looked down at Sam, eyes glassy like he was having trouble focusing on her. His mouth opened slightly as if he were about to speak.

Lightning cracked and struck down on the grave, illuminating the area for a split second. Then the lightning was gone. As Sam and Tucker rubbed the spots out of their eyes, they looked at the grave to see unlit candles, a closed, unburnt book, no flowers, and no Danny.

The air felt felt warm and still. The sky was clear and the moon shone brightly.

Sam jumped up, face twisted in anguish. "Danny! Danny no, please come back!" Hot tears rolled down her cheeks as a sob rose in her throat.

Tucker, now free of whatever was keeping him in place before, ran over to Sam, wrapping his arms around her and tucking her head into his shoulder. Sam's heavy sobs shook her entire body. Tucker was terrified by what he had seen.He’d been terrified for Sam, puking petals and making flowers grow from a drop of blood. He'd wished for Danny’s return so many times since his unexplainable death, and for a moment, it was within reach, but more than anything, Tucker wanted for Danny to just come back make things right again. But his friend was gone. Sam had failed after all.

  
Sam’s sobs echoed throughout the graveyard, but neither of them spoke. Then, an all too familiar voice cut through the air.

"Aw geez, what did you guys fight about this time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you all like this chapter :) 
> 
> i got a friend to beta this chapter for me, so the grammer and spelling should be better. 
> 
> i kinda high key want to delete/rewrite the first chapter, because as i am writing this, wes is showing up less and less, and the plot is going in a different direction than originally intended. what do you guys think?


	5. dogs and regrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tucker and Sam talk after the fateful night

Sam couldn't breath, she couldn't move. He was back, he was standing a few yards away from them and he was alive. 

But it wasn't him. Danny has black hair and blue eyes, but the person in front of them had white hair and green eyes that glowed brightly enough to see from across the graveyard. He was smiling. 

He tilted his head, still smiling. 

"I think you two should go home now." 

Sam blacked out. 

\---

Sam woke up in her bedroom. Her curtains were closed but light still shone through, filling the room with a dim light. Her alarm clock was blaring loudly. 

Sam groaned, rolled over, and slammed her hand on the clock, turning it off. She slid out of bed, tugging groggily at her black pajamas. 

Then everything from the night before came back to her. 

Sam frantically swung her head back and forth, her eyes taking in her bedroom and and the clear lack of Danny within it. 

Sam sighed, pushing her memory of last night to the back of her mind. She needed to shower and get to school. She will save her emotional breakdown until after school. Slipping into the shower her mind replayed the night before over and over again in her head. She stood silently, unmoving, in the shower as the water poured over her. She sighed and forced herself to move, scrubbing shampoo into her hair then rinsing the suds out. 

She stepped out of the shower, scrubbing herself with a towel then moved to dress herself. She pulled on green fishnet patterned tights under a dark purple skirt. She pulled a purple shoulderless dark purple crop top with a violet skull printed on it. Around her neck she put a choker necklace with a gold crux ansata pendant hanging from it. She applied green lipstick and black eyeliner. Sam stood in front of the long mirror hanging from her closet door, taking a long look at her reflection. 

She breathed. 

\--- 

Going to school was easier than Sam expected. The first half of the day went by like a blur, her head swirling with numbers and history trivia. At lunch, she grabbed her bag lunch and moved to her usual table on autopilot. Tucker had gotten there first. 

Sam stopped in front of the table, not sitting down. She stared at Tucker. He looked at her boredly. 

“Are you going to sit down or not?” He asked flatly. 

Sam sat down silently. She opened her bagged lunch and pulled out her veggie sandwich. She munched on it quietly. Tucker went back to eating his sloppy joe. 

“So about last night….” 

Tucker dropped his sandwich, giving Sam a look of exasperation. 

Sam slouched down in her seat, looking down. “I’m starting to think it was a bad idea,” said Sam, mumbling.

“Damn, Sam! What gave you that idea?” 

Sam bit her lip. “I’m going back to the book, it can tell me what I did wrong, why he looked like that, how to fix it, I-” 

“Sam stop,” said Tucker. “I’m still processing the fact ghosts even exist, much less that my friend is one. Heck, I’m still processing the fact that Danny died in the first place. For once in your life, can you not make a mountain out of a molehill?” 

Sam slid down in her seat, her face red, biting into her sandwich. She was afraid of this. She and Tucker were sliding farther and farther apart, and Sam feared her stunt might have been the final straw. 

“It all started with that fucking book, the one you got from that ring leader.” Tucker muttered. Sam looked up. 

“Halloween was last week, I completely forgot about it. Maybe if you had done your freaky spell then it would have worked,” said Tucker. 

“Hiiii guyssss!!!” 

The sound of fake peppiness and a sneer interrupted Tucker. Paulina had walked up to their table, a forced, almost mocking smile plastered on Paulina’s face. Tucker and Sam’s heads swung to shoot identical looks of irritation at the popular girl. 

Paulina ignored their glares and promptly sat down next to Sam, much too close for comfort. She placed her books next to Sam’s tray, the top one being on the history of werewolves in mythology. That took Tucker by surprise, but Sam just sighed at the sight of the familiar books. 

“Now Sam,” said Paulina, “we agreed that we were doing our project on urban legends and the supernatural, you know, the only interest we share? I was under the impression we were working on the project together. I’ve been trying to be as nice about this as possible because of all the….personal problems you have been dealing with, but I’m not doing this project alone. Our research paper is due in two weeks, I’ve already done my half of the paper, and even a little bit more, and I think it’s only fair you do the rest.” 

Sam gave Paulina a blank stare. She then picked up the book on werewolves and put it in her backpack. She turned back to Paulina with an expectant expression. Sam wanted Paulina to leave as soon as possible. 

Paulina smiled at Sam. “So what are you two up to?” 

“I summoned Danny’s ghost from beyond the grave last night and now he might be haunting us,” Sam said in a completely serious tone. She didn’t know why she was telling Paulina that. 

Paulina wore an uncomfortable smile. “Good for you.” she said. She then got up and skipped away from the table, content to ignore Sam’s unusual statement. 

Tucker and Sam spent the rest of lunch quietly eating their food. Tucker was on his phone, Sam started reading the books Paulina gave her. 

The rest of the day was uneventful. 

\---  
Tucker let himself slip into wolf form. 

Tucker’s wolf form looked more like a dog than a wolf. A big brown mutt, perhaps a mix between a german shepard and a sheep dog with a hint of pitbull. It was easier to walk the city and suburban streets if he looked like a dog, a wolf would attract much more attention, but Tucker still wished at times he could turn himself into a real wolf, mostly due to the coolness factor. 

Closing the door behind him with his shoulders, the large dog walked purposely down the steps and off on his walk. 

He had remembered to wear the collar, with a name tag that told any human that caught him that his name was Tuck, and he was a good dog. Tucker didn’t like wearing the collar, but it was better than getting sent to the pound. The last thing anyone needed was a werewolf in the hands of the dog catchers. 

Tucker’s mom, Angela, had been pestering his dad about moving back to the country more since Danny’s death. Angela felt that it would be good for Tucker to be in the country, around other wolves where the woods were large and he was free to run. Angela and Maurice had both grown up in a wolf colony in Minnesota, but Tucker felt he was doing just fine in the urban neighborhood. moving was the last thing he wanted to do. 

Tucker made his way down the street, thinking about That Night. The image of the white haired-green eyed boy they saw in the graveyard still haunted him. Heh, haunted. 

The last thing Tucker remembered before waking up in his bedroom tucked into bed wearing his softest pajamas, was Danny telling him to go home. But Tucker didn’t want to go home, he wanted answers, he wanted Danny to come back. 

Danny was back, but Tucker didn’t know where to find him. He sniffed the air, a part of him hoping to catch his scent, but no luck. 

Tucker made his way in the direction of Sam’s house. 

Sam was sitting on the steps of her home, not wanting to go inside. It was an unusually warm night for november, Sam was wearing a plain purple shirt under a black denim jacket, with purple fishnet-patterned tights under denim shorts, finished off with her iconic black combat boots. For someone who claimed to not care about fashion, Tucker thought she looked very fashionable. 

Sam had the book on werewolves Paulina gave her open on her lap, her school bag next to her. Tucker found that rather ironic. Sam looked up as Tucker walked towards her, smiling at what she thought was a normal dog. Sam held out her hand. 

“Hey puppy, are you lost?” Sam pet the dog’s head, smiling. Tucker grinned a doggy grin. 

“I’m fine Sam, but I appreciate the thought.” said Tucker. Sam jerked her hand back, shocked. Tucker barked a laugh, amused at Sam’s confusion. 

“What the fuck?”

“Hi Sam.” Tucker replied. “It’s me, Tucker.” 

“What the fuck?” 

“Ah, come on Sam, you summoned your dead friend’s ghost last night. Don’t tell me werewolves is where you draw the line.” 

Sam put the book she was reading down next to her bag. She stood up, eyes wide in shock and confusion. 

“You’re a fucking werewolf and you didn’t believe me when I said I could bring Danny back. You are a fucking werewolf and you don’t believe in ghosts?” 

“I didn’t believe in ghosts, but I do now, bit of a difference.” Tucker sat down on the sidewalk, yawning. “And there is a big difference between werewolves and ghosts, like, werewolves are far more believable than summoning dead people. People turning into wolves is more realistic than life after death.” 

“How long have you been a werewolf?” Sam asked 

“What?” 

“How long?” 

“My entire life?” Tucker shrugged casually. “Most werewolves these days are from multiple generations. Not a lot of wolves attacking people, the packs keep everyone in line and teach newly turned wolves to control themselves. Born wolves like me tend to have better control naturally, I’m completely in control of my wolf form.” 

Sam sat back down on the steps, eyes still wide. 

“Why didn’t you ever tell us before? Wait, does Danny know?” Sam asked “Did... did he know?” she corrected herself. 

“Nope,” Tucker replied. “Never told him. Just as you never told us your family was rich for years. Like, the first time I even stepped foot in your house was less than a year ago, and we’ve known each other since elementary school. We’ve all been keeping secrets from each other.” 

“God, this is so fucking weird.” 

“Anyways…” continued Tucker, “We need to talk about the whole deal with Danny being back. You have any ideas for what we do now?” 

“Can you change back into human form?” Sam asked “Wait, you’re not wearing clothes…”

“Yeah, nobody wants that.” 

Sam laughed for the first time in a weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, i'm keeping the first chapter, with a little editing. i really like how long this chapter is? i hope you like it as well!


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